A Structured Organizational Support Program to Improve Occupational Adaptation Among Newly Recruited Healthcare Professionals: A Mixed-Methods Study.

BACKGROUND

Newly recruited healthcare professionals may experience interpersonal, role-related, and psychological challenges during the transition to clinical practice that are insufficiently addressed by conventional technical orientation. This study explored occupational adaptation needs and preliminarily evaluated a structured organizational support program in a tertiary hospital in China.

METHODS

We conducted a mixed-methods intervention study at a tertiary hospital in Beijing. Twenty-eight newly recruited healthcare professionals participated in the needs assessment, and 10 participants with common occupational adaptation challenges completed an 8-month organizational support program comprising six structured group sessions. We used questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation to assess professional skill adaptation, interpersonal interaction, team collaboration, and psychological stress adaptation.

RESULTS

All 28 participants reported a need for practical clinical skills training, while 26 (92.9%) reported a need for psychological support and stress-management guidance. Fourteen participants (50.0%) reported work-related stress, and 13 (46.4%) reported anxiety associated with overtime work. Among the 10 intervention participants, the overall occupational adaptation score increased from 36.1 to 46.9, with the largest increases observed in interpersonal interaction, team collaboration, and psychological stress adaptation. Participants and supervisors reported high satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

The structured organizational support program was well accepted, and preliminary pre-post improvements in occupational adaptation were observed, supporting further evaluation in larger controlled studies.